Flatulence

Flatulence, also called fart or flatus, is when intestinal gas leaves the anus. This often happens with a loud sound, caused by the speed and amount of gas released, the vibration of the anal sphincter, and occasionally by the closed buttocks.

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Intestinal gas is brought to the rectum in the same way as feces, so it causes a similar feeling of urgency and discomfort. Researchers have discovered that the sensitive nerves around the anus exist to help us tell the difference between flatus and feces; sometimes, though, a person can get confused and accidentally defecate while trying to release gas. This is colloquially known as sharting and can leave stains in a person's underwear. There are many slang terms for the passing of flatulence, such as farting, pooting, tooting, passing gas, breaking wind, and cutting the cheese.

All people produce and release flatulence, on average 14 times every day. This can happen accidentally, for example while coughing, sneezing or even during an orgasm, but people can also pass gass at will; this is often done by bearing down on the stomach and relaxing the anal opening, or by raising a leg and pushing. Flatulence is completely normal and a sign of good health, but because of its odor, many people feel too embarrassed to pass gas in front of strangers and will try to hold it until they are alone. This has caused flatulence to become a taboo in many occasions; at the same time, most people think flatulence is funny, so it is often a source of humor in jokes, artworks, books and movies. Not only humans pass gas: in fact, all animals expel flatus, including many invertebrates. Even birds, worms, ants, fishes and reptiles produce flatus. Because of their different diet, the flatus of carnivores, such as dogs and cats, is usually smellier than that of herbivores, such as cows.